The Role of Perceived Environmental Responsibility and Environmental Concern on Shaping Green Purchase Intention

Abstract

This study integrates the norm activation model with the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to explore the impacts of personal norms (perceived environmental responsibility and environmental concern) on Vietnamese consumers’ green purchase intention. A dataset of 626 consumers was collected using the mall-intercept survey approach in the largest cities in Northern Vietnam. Structural equation modelling was used to test the proposed hypotheses, and the PROCESS approach was used to estimate indirect associations between hypothesized constructs. The findings indicated that both attitude toward green products and perceived behavioural control were strongly and positively associated with green purchase intention; however, no directly significant correlation was found between subjective norms and intention to engage in environment-friendly consumption. Regarding perceived environmental responsibility, a positive attitude toward green products was not directly related to perceived behavioural control and green purchase intention. Environmental concern was found to have a dramatic impact on green product attitude, perceived behavioural control, and green purchase intention. Notably, attitude toward green products significantly mediated the effects of subjective norms, perceived environmental responsibility, and environmental concern on green purchase intention, whereas perceived behavioural control also significantly mediated the impact of subjective norms and environmental concern on green purchase intention. This study enriches our understanding of the impact of perceived environmental responsibility and environmental concern on three motivational antecedents of the TPB and intention to engage in green consumption behaviour, providing some relevant recommendations for managerial and marketing practitioners to encourage sustainable consumption behaviours and motivate corporate environmental responsibility.